An important meeting to define the role of the global south in addressing climate change for COP21 in paris

LIBREVILLE, Gabon, December 24, 2014 The Climate South Initiative (http://www.climate-south.com) will gather more than 800 global leaders from government, business, NGOs, academia, civil society, youth and media to discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by climate change.

This Initiative, under the high patronage of President Ali Bongo Ondimba will offer a platform for proactive leaders to discuss the opportunities to enable adaption to current impacts, and mitigation of future effects of climate change.

The objective for the diverse countries from the South will be to create momentum for equitable solutions and to take their share of responsibility in the fight against climate change. Designed to encourage informal dialogue, this event will be a platform for sharing the diverse perspectives and knowledge across countries from the Southern continents – Africa, Middle-East, Asia and Latin America. Following their discussions, the participants will adopt a common Declaration that will feed into UNFCC’s 21st Conference of Parties meeting scheduled in Paris in December 2015 (COP21).

The Climate South Initiative will be immediately followed by another major initiative: the New York Forum Africa 2015 (NYFA), taking place on May 29 to 31 in Libreville, to discuss the continent’s perspectives under the theme Invest in the Energy Continent.